Furnace pallet

ABSTRACT

A pallet of the type used in moving-grate furnaces, having sloping side plate members fastened in place across the internal angle formed by the substantially vertical side wall members mounted on the sides of the pallet for holding in the materialin-process, and the substantially horizontal grate-bars, positioned on top of the frame of the pallet and on which the material-in-process sits. The sloping side plates have openings therethrough for the passage of hot gases which promotes the heating of the material-in-process adjacent the sloping side plates.

11] 3,824,071 1451 July 16, 1974 United States Patent 1191 Lovold FURNACE PALLET Primary ExaminerJohn J r Camby- Attorney, Agent, or FirmMerchant, Gould, Smith & Edell V [75] Inventor: Clifford E. Lovold, Beaver Bay,

Minn.

[73] Assignee: Reserve Mining Company, Silver Bay, Minn.

[22] Filed: July 30, 1973 I21] App]. No.: 383,486

aving sloping side plate members fastened in place across the internal angle formed by the substantially vertical side wall members mounted on the sides of 2% 8 gg igg i the pallet for holding in the material-in-process, and g H37 2 41 266/21 the substantially horizontal grate-bars, positioned on top of the frame of the pallet and on which the material-in References Cited -process slts. The slopmg slde plates have open- UNITED STATES PATENTS ings therethrough for the passage of hot gases which promotes the heating of the material-in-process adjacent the sloping side plates.

432/241 266 21 432/2/41 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Straightmv.... Alexouts............. Koontz 009 226 999 111 III 235 1 570 0024 445 90 llW/- FURNACE PALLET FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to furnace pallets of the kind used to convey material-in-process through a furnace in which the material is fired. The invention has many uses, one of which is in the processing of taconite pellets. For convenience, the invention will be described in terms of a pallet for processing taconite pellets, but is not limited thereto.

PRIOR ART U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,287 (Boron) is relevant with respect to the general subject matter of furnace pallets and describes a typical process and system therefore and a pallet in common use.

Other patents discuss the problem of properly heating or burning the material-in-process next to the side walls of the pallets, but theyall employ differentmethods and structures. U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,532 (McDowell et al.) uses horizontal rib elements mounted on the side walls to block the leakage of heat flow between the side walls and the material-in-process in the pallet. U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,395 (Meyer) uses baffles placed over the top of the materiaI-in-process along the sideedges of the pallet. U.S. Pat. No. l,53l,695 (Eustis) uses a weighted hood having vertical walls which hang'down over the pallet side walls to reduce airand gas leakage adjacent the side walls. U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,936 (Koontz) discloses a form of side wall having a pronounced slope. However, the side wall of Koontz does'not have-openings to permit the passage of air andis outside the grate area. U.S. Pat. No. 1,471,402 (Lloyd) discloses a sloping side wall, but-again the side wall has no openings'for the passage of air. U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,813 (Urban) discloses a side wall having a very pronounced slope,-'but with no openings for the passage of air. U.S. Pat. No. 2,980,527 (Strang) discloses a sinter pan having sloped side walls, but they have no openings for the passage of air.

The problem of unburned pellets has occurred for a numbers of years. The pellets were not burned or processed properly at the corners of the pallets where the grate bars and the side walls meet. A number of things were tried without much success. A sloping side member was tried but didnt work well. In another attempt to solve the problem, the internal corners of the pallet were filled with a refractory material and made solid. Coal dust was mixed with pellets to burn and provide extra heat, but this didnt solve the problem. Merely applying more heat did not work either. After several years of experimenting, it was discovered that sloping side plates with openings, placed across the internal corners of thepallet, solved the problem. The theory of operation is not clearly known, but apparently the heat is more evenly distributed because of the sloping side plate members and the accumulation of unburned pellets in the corners is eliminated.

SUMMARY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one side of a pallet;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of one side of another pallet;

FIG. 3 is a front interior view of a set of three sloping side plate members taken fromthe plane 33 of FIG. .1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 3 from the cutting plane 4-4;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG. 4 cutting plane 5-5; and

FIG. 6 is a front exteriorview showing the mounting taken from the arrangement of the vertical wall side members.

DESCRIPTION :OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. '1, thexpalletincludes aframe member 10 and endmembers 12. l'End members l2 are attached to the frame 10 byfastening means such as-bolt 13. The pallet rolls-on wheel assemblies 14 which are I journalled for rotation within aldepending portion 15 of the pallet end member 12. The whee'lassemblies 14 run on tracks which are not shown. A set of horizontal grate-bars is positioned on top of frame 10in a longitudinal direction. The top surfaces of the grate -bars 16 generally define what is known as the hearth plane. Generally vertical side wall members .18 with corrugated'interior surfaces keep the taconite pellets in the pallet. A flange at the lower end of side wall member 18 mates with an upwardly extending flange 22 at the top end member 12. Flange 20 of side wall member 18 is securely attached to flange 22 of end member 12 by a fastening means such as'bolt 24. A sloping side plate member 26 with a corrugated interior surface is positioned across the internal angle formed by the hearth plane and the generally vertical plane of side wall member 18. Member 26 is generally V-shaped. The upper portion 28 of sloping side plate member 26 is generally vertical and is securely attached to side wall member 18 by a fastening means such as bolt 30. The bottom portion 32 of sloping side plate member 26 makes an angle of about 30 with the generally vertical side wall member '18. Sloping side plate member 26 has a shoulder portion 34 in the region where the lower portion 32 of sloping side plate 26 begins sloping away from vertical side wall member 18, i.e., at the point of the V. Shoulder 34 strengthens sloping side plate member 26 and provides additional surface abutting against the interior surface of vertical side plate member 18. The 30 angle shown is not particularly critical.

The pallet shown in FIG. 2 is analogous to that shown in FIG. 1. Because of this, the same reference numerals have been used except that they are primed. In the pallet of FIG. 2, the upper portion of end member 12', in-

cluding flange 22, extends upward further. The

flanged portion 20 of side wall member 18 is in the same plane as side wall member 18'. In the pallet of FIG. 1, the flanged portion 20 of side wall member 18 is offset somewhat from the plane of side wall member 18. Also, member 26 has a rib 35 for extra strength, extending downwardly from shoulder 34' on the exterior surface of member 26'.

FIG. 3 shows the two kinds of sloping side plates used. in a pallet with three side wall members on each side, the sloping side plate 26b is flanked by two sloping side plates 26a. Sloping side plates 26a and sloping side plate 26b have sets of openings 36 through the plates. These openings are elongate in the upward direction.

The openings permit the ready passage of hot gases.

which results in complete burning of the taconite pellets located adjacent the sloping side plates. Two cored, counter sunk holes 38 in the top portion of sloping side plates 26a and 26b receive bolts 24 for fastening the sloping side plates to the side wall members 18.

The sloping side plate member 26b is slightly different from side plate members 26a in that the bottom portion contains a slot 40 for receiving a lock pin 42 shown more clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2. The inner end of lock pin 42 has a head 44 for preventing outward rhovementof the pin, which prevents the grate bars from coming out. The outer end of pin 42. extends through a hole 46 in flange 22 on end member 12. A fastening means such as a cotter pin 48 inserted through a hole 50 in the outer end of pin 42 retains pin 42 in place.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken from the cutting plane 4-4 in FIG. 3, showing more clearly how the head 44 of pin 42 engages the bottom edge of member 26.

FIG. is a view taken from cutting plane 5-5 in FIG. 4, and shows the exterior surface of member 26, especially shoulders 34.

FIG. 6 is an external front view showing three side plate member 18 mounted side-by-side on a pallet.

In summary, the improved pallet promotes the burning of the taconite pellets adjacent to the internal angles or corners of the pallet. A sloping side plate member is mounted on the side wall members and across the internal angles. The sloping side plate members have opening therethrough for the passage of hot gases, which prevent the accumulation of unburned pellets in the corners of the pallet.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed. Modifications to the embodimentdisclosed 4 and equivalent embodiments which will be within the spirit and scope of the invention can be devised by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed isi 1. A pallet comprising:

a. a frame;

b. end members fastened to the frame;

c. wheel assemblies journalled for rotation within depending portions of the end members;

d. grate-bars supported on the top of the frame;

e. side wall members, fastened to the end members,

for holding material in process on the pallet;

f. sloping side plate members fastened to the side wall members, positioned across the internal angles formed by the grate-bars and the side wall members, the sloping side plate members having openings therethrough for the passage of hot gases.

2. A pallet as recited in claim 1 in which the sloping side plate members and the side wall members form an angle of about 3. A pallet as recited in claim 1 in which some of the sloping side plate members have a slot in the lower edge thereof, and further comprising means which cooperates with the slot for locking the sloping side plates in place.

4. A pallet as recited in claim 3 in which the locking means comprises a pin, the interior end of the pin ineluding a head for engaging the slot in the sloping side plate and the exterior end of the pin being retained at a point on the outside of the pallet.

5. A pallet as recited in claim 1 in which the sloping side plate members are generally V-shaped.

6. A pallet as recited in claim 5 in which the sloping side plates have a shoulder just below the point of the V, the shoulder strengthening the sloping side plate members and providing additional surface area abutting the side wall members.

7. ln a pallet including side wall members that are generally vertical with respect to the hearth plane of the pallet, the improvement comprising: sloping side plate members fastened to the generally vertical side wall members and across the internal angles formed between the generally vertical side plate members and the hearth plane, the sloping side plate members having openings therethrough for the passage of hot gases. 

1. A pallet comprising: a. a frame; b. end members fastened to the frame; c. wheel assemblies journalled for rotation within depending portions of the end members; d. grate-bars supported on the top of the frame; e. side wall members, fastened to the end members, for holding material in process on the pallet; f. sloping side plate members fastened to the side wall members, positioned across the internal angles formed by the grate-bars and the side wall members, the sloping side plate members having openings therethrough for the passage of hot gases.
 2. A pallet as recited in claim 1 in which the sloping side plate members and the side wall members form an angle of about 30*.
 3. A pallet as recited in claim 1 in which some of the sloping side plate members have a slot in the lower edge thereof, and further comprising means which cooperates with the slot for locking the sloping side plates in place.
 4. A pallet as recited in claim 3 in which the locking means comprises a pin, the interior end of the pin including a head for engaging the slot in the sloping side plate and the exterior end of the pin being retained at a point on the outside of the pallet.
 5. A pallet as recited in claim 1 in which the sloping side plate members are generally V-shaped.
 6. A pallet as recited in claim 5 in which the sloping side plates have a shoulder just below the point of the V, the shoulder strengthening the sloping side plate members and providing additional surface area abutting the side wall members.
 7. In a pallet including side wall members that are generally vertical with respect to thE hearth plane of the pallet, the improvement comprising: sloping side plate members fastened to the generally vertical side wall members and across the internal angles formed between the generally vertical side plate members and the hearth plane, the sloping side plate members having openings therethrough for the passage of hot gases. 